eLearning Design and Development: a journey through murky waters

Denise M. Sweeney, Educational Designer, University of Leicester

Accredited programmes in university teaching Learning and Teaching in HE – legitimate field

of study What are the key concepts that inform this body of

knowledge? How do these ideas and concepts translate to

specific accredited modules that deal with e-learning design and development?

Learning & Teaching in HE: field of study Key concepts

Reflective Practice - Brookfield‘Critical Lenses’ - View and reflect upon our practice:

Our own view (autobiography) Our students Our fellow professionals/colleagues Theoretical perspectives in educational

literature

Constructive Alignment - Biggs

Teaching/learning activities

• Teacher-managed

• Peer-managed

• Self-managed

Intended learning outcomes

• Incorporate verbs that students have to enact (appropriate to the context of the discipline)

Assessment

tasks

• Format of tasks (target verbs are elicited and deployed in context)

• Criteria specified clearly to allow judgement as to student’s performance

Surface and Deep approaches to learning Learning is seen as:

A quantitative increase in knowledge Memorising The acquisition, for subsequent utilisation, of facts,

methods, etc. The abstraction of meaning An interpretative process aimed at understanding

reality Changing as a person

Approaches to learning are relational or context-dependent.

Student approaches to learning - Ramsden

Conceptions of teaching

Fragmented conceptions of e-learning (Gonzalez, 2009)

A source of information provided by lecturers A medium for occasional online communication

Cohesive conceptions of e-learning Using ICT as a way to enable students to apply

and reflect about what is being discussed A medium to support knowledge building

(ED7035) Module D - E-Learning: Resource Development & Student Support

Aims Design, create, implement and reflect on an interactive

online learning resource Explore the practical skills and theoretical knowledge

required to create online learning resources and teach online Introduces both the theory and practice of ‘online’ teaching and

learning. Emphasises the interactive and collaborative nature of the medium Does not require a high level of technical expertise Emphasis is on the creation of ‘engaging’ learning tasks

Participant workload: 150 hours Credits: 20 CATS Level: 7 Criteria for Admission: Completion of Module A

Intended Learning Outcomes Assess the impact on the institution, and the

context within which it operates, of incorporating online learning experiences as part of the blend of both distance and face-to-face learning programmes

Demonstrate competence in choosing and using a variety of teaching and assessment and support strategies that meet the needs of a diverse and heterogeneous student body

Critically analyse theories and frameworks of online learning and assessment, and evaluate their relevance to the development and support of online learning experiences

Intended Learning Outcomes Demonstrate their ability to provide online

support to help students develop a reflective approach to their learning

Apply appropriate frameworks for the evaluation of an online learning experience

Assessment Tasks

Element 1 - 3 hour online ‘learning experience’

Element 2 – Report and reflection of online ‘learning experience’ ( project planning, implementation and review) (2,000 words)

 Element 3 - Evaluation of online ‘learning experience’ (2,000 words)

  All elements = 33 1/3 %

Session 1 Face-to face sessions (2 hours)

• Welcome

• Posing and addressing a learning problem – module specification/ learning context/module redesign

• Investigating models of learning

Online Sessions

Creating an online presence – blog/wiki/calendar/email/OER resources/readings

Dealing with the literature – blog (6 key readings)

Peer review of ‘online learning designs’ – wiki

Building knowledge as a group - ‘learning design, development and evaluation’ - wiki

Session 2 ‘drop in’ clinic/guided session – peer input

OPTIONAL SESSION

Session 3 • Designing the learning process

• Reviewing your activity map and online design

Session 4 ‘drop in’ clinic/guided session – peer input

OPTIONAL SESSION

Session 5 • Evaluating the student learning experience – small group work

• Feedback on your progress

Session 6 • Presentation of online learning experience

• Peer evaluation

Module Design

Learning Design

Online Questionnaire Participant Evaluation of the Module and Tutor(opinions, learning experience, feedback, ways to improve - the module and the teaching)

Bristol Surveys OnlineEnd of module - after submission of e-portfolio

Small cohorts (6-10 participants)50% response rates

Based on SeCaT, University of Queensland

19 questions

8 questions – evaluation of the module6 questions – evaluation of the tutorUsing 5 point Likert scale -(strongly agree/agree/neutral/disagree/strongly disagree)

4 questions - Open responses

Participant Evaluation

Open Responses What were the best aspects of this module?

Give examples What improvements to this module would you

suggest? Give examples. What aspects of the tutor's approach to

teaching best helped your learning? Give Examples.

What would you have liked this tutor to have done differently? Give examples.

What were the best aspects of this module? The use of the blog as a pre-session activity. The

readings were very well chosen and highlighted a number of very interesting aspects of learning design and evaluation.

The blogging activity encouraged participants to engage with the relevant literature in advance of the sessions.

The practical (i.e the 'Learning Design') aspect of the module. This gave us the opportunity to apply many of the theoretical frameworks we had learnt about from the readings.

The pilot and evaluation of this resource provided a good opportunity to reflect on the learning design process and how it fitted in with our existing ideas.

What were the best aspects of this module? The module introduced me to the theory and practice

of eLearning and convinced me of its importance in developing learning, teaching and assessment.

… structured the module in such a way that I could keep up (or catch up!) despite a heavy teaching load.

…Blackboard was used brilliantly to make teaching resources available before, during and after sessions, so that I could catch up with work on the module whenever I had time.

… established a friendly and a collaborative atmosphere which gave us the opportunity to learn from and help each other as much as possible.

What aspects of the tutor's approach to teaching best helped your learning? … was very open, approachable, and

encouraging. I liked her emphasis on collaboration, regularly drawing on resources from other institutions and on each others' experiences.

… understood our different workplace contexts and offered us practical solutions to any obstacles we encountered.

What aspects of the tutor's approach to teaching best helped your learning? … structured the sessions in such a way that

the sessions were driven by interactivity and discussion. This made the contact sessions very enjoyable and productive experiences.

The online activities keep [sic] us engaged between contact sessions and allowed us to reflect on our existing thoughts as well as our thoughts on the readings.

Questions Learning and Teaching in HE – legitimate field

of study What are the key concepts that inform this body of

knowledge? How do these ideas and concepts translate to

specific accredited modules that deal with e-learning design and development?